€29.5m Cork mansion tops list of most expensive properties sold in 2024

An East Cork mansion nestled on the banks of the Blackwater was the most valuable property sold in Ireland in 2024, according to figures contained in the Property Price Register (PPR).

Over the first 11 months of the year, approximately 1,235 sales have been completed nationally for sums of €1 million and above.

Approximately 202 sales with a value of €2 million or more were completed in Ireland in the 11-month period to the end of November, while 62 homes were sold for at least €3 million, with the most valuable being a property sold in Co Cork for a price approaching €30m.

Figures recorded on the PPR reflect the amount paid for the principal residence and up to an acre of land. When a residential property sale includes more than an acre of land, the value of that extra land is not included on the register.

Ballynatray House, a late Georgian estate set on 850 acres upstream of Youghal, sold last February for €29.25m, according to the PPR, which rather charmingly lists the 11-bay, two-storey over basement, Classical-style house as a “Second-Hand Dwelling house /Apartment”.

Ballynatray House was built between 1795 and 1797 and incorporates the fabric of an earlier house (built circa 1700), and includes the ruins of an ancient abbey.

It is understood that Ballynatray House was sold to British vacuum-cleaner magnate, James Dyson, one of Britain’s richest men, who already controls 35,000 acres in Britain and owns more land than King Charles.

Some estimates put Mr Dyson’s personal and family fortunes at over €20bn, and he owns extensive farms and estates in the English shires, along with homes in London, France, and Singapore, as well as a 300ft superyacht.

The PPR does not take into account the 850 acres of land attached to the property, with some reports estimating the full sale price of the Ballynatray estate to be between €32m and €35m.

The grounds of Ballynatray House featured in the 1975 Stanley Kubrick movie Barry Lyndon, which starred Ryan O’Neal.

While some media reports have placed Ballynatray House over the border in neighbouring West Waterford, the PPR lists its address as Youghal.

The second most valuable property sold in Ireland in 2024 was Censure House, on Ceanchor Road in Howth, Co Dublin, which sold for €10m.

The third most valuable property sold in Ireland this year was Victoria House, 81 Ailesbury Road, Ballsbridge, Co Dublin, which sold for €10m.

After Ballynatray House, the next most valuable property sold in Co Cork last year was Seaspray, Scilly, in Kinsale, which sold for €5.5m.

Another Kinsale property, Valley House in Sandycove, sold for €4.99m.

Kennitt House, on the Rochestown Road, sold for €3m.

Over Yonder, in Ardbrack, in Kinsale, sold for €2.9m.